Make-A-Wish helps Shoals girl save animals with donation

A $7,000 donation in Annika Glover's name will be made to a pet charity.

FLORENCE, AL (WAFF) -

A big wish for a little girl battling a brain tumor is coming true in the Shoals courtesy of the Alabama Make-A-Wish program.

Annika Glover said she didn't think it would happen, but the Make-A-Wish program will donate $7,000 to the Shoals Pets Are Worth Saving (PAWS) group in her name.

From the outside, nine-year-old Annika looks like your typical fourth grader. But inside, she's been battling medulloblastoma, a form of brain tumor, for the last two years. The Alabama Make-A-Wish program stepped in and granted Annika one wish: to help save animals. "I wanted to help animals a whole bunch. I grew up around animals and love them so much," she said.

That love comes naturally to her. "I don't live in a neighborhood. I live next to my grandparents, so I'm surrounded by nature and my grandparents have pet goats, so I'm surrounded by animals," Annika said.

The Make-A-Wish program is donating $7,000 to the Shoals PAWS group, an organization dedicated to fulfilling Annika's wish.

Annika's mother Anne said they're thrilled the group is helping fulfill that wish. "She's here for a purpose, and as much as she loves animals, I think that's her purpose, to get others to help animals as well," she said.

Terri Whalen with PAWS said Annika's wish is also a dream come true for their group. "There's a phrase that says raising a child takes a village. I think it takes a village to save animals. This miraculous wish she was able to grant us is just phenomenal," Whalen said.

"She could have wished for anything, and she decided to use this opportunity for the greater good."

Whalen said the group will be able to spay and neuter approximately 70 animals. In turn, not only will it save their lives, but help in controlling the unwanted pet population for generations of litters to come.

The greatest wish of all has been granted to the young girl whose future was once uncertain. "About two weeks ago, she had an MRI that she has to have every six months," said Anne. "And the MRI was clear. All the blood tests were back to normal. Now she gets to give back; she gets to say thank you to everybody that's helped her."

Annika's small wish comes with a big message. "Don't hurt animals on purpose," she said. "Don't just let an animal run into the street and keep looking and say it will be okay." She also hopes to inspire the community to foster and adopt.

"Do it. It's so easy and fun. You can do it," she said.

On Saturday, Annika presented a check for $7,000 in her name from the Make-a-Wish program to Shoals PAWS during a ceremony at Wilson Park in Florence.